


sum presentialiter, absens in remota

by adamganseys



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: College, Fluff, M/M, Reunions, long distance, this was supposed to be for pynch week but i'm a failure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 13:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12133284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamganseys/pseuds/adamganseys
Summary: “And that’s how the cell—um,” Adam stuttered, because as his eyes roamed the expanse of the room, they landed on something strange and unexpected. Standing the back of the large lecture hall, where the classroom’s door was fixed open, was Ronan Lynch.(Or, Ronan surprises Adam with a visit at the most inconvenient time. For the prompt, "What are you doing here?")





	sum presentialiter, absens in remota

**Author's Note:**

> This was gonna be posted for Pynch Week and I had a bunch of other shit planned for it too that I never got around to because I am garbage, so, have this one thing over a month late. It shouldn't be surprising considering I haven't even finished things I started for Pynch week _last year_. I wasn't even sure I was gonna attempt to finish this but somehow got inspiration in the past couple days. It's super half assed and rushed and definitely not my best, but, I hope you enjoy? Even with all the post TRK fic I've written for these two, somehow this is the first time I wrote them after Adam left for college and let me tell you. It is painful. 
> 
> Also the tiny amount of Latin in this (including the title) is probably inaccurate as hell but blame Google for that. Also pt 2, don't worry, my longer fic isn't abandoned, I just have no idea when it'll update but. It'll happen! I promise!

The first time Ronan visited Adam at college, the latter was in the middle of giving a presentation in his Biology 101 course. It was an important presentation, too, part of his midterm, so fuck his unfairly attractive and amazing boyfriend, really.

Adam was standing at the front of the large classroom with his PowerPoint projected on the screen, hands free of index cards because even though the professor had said they were allowed a few, Adam had memorized every part of his project and could recite it in his sleep.

“And that’s how the cell—um,” Adam stuttered, because as his eyes roamed the expanse of the room, they landed on something strange and unexpected. Standing the back of the large lecture hall, where the classroom’s door was fixed open, was Ronan Lynch. 

He wasn’t inside the room, exactly. He was standing right outside, leaning against one side of the doorway, looking like a fucking god. 

Adam’s mouth fell open, and if he’d had index cards in his hands, he probably would’ve dropped them. He resisted the urge to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Cabeswater was gone, but maybe, somehow, from somewhere, it was making him hallucinate again. It wasn't totally implausible. 

There was an awkward moment of silence, but he recovered quickly, clearing his throat and going on with his presentation. Hopefully no one else noticed how his eyes kept going to the doorway, to the savagely handsome boy with a wide smirk on his face, eyes locked on Adam.

His presentation lasted for about ten more minutes, and thankfully it was the last one for the day. He didn’t think he could make it through sitting in class when Ronan was _right there_. Afterward, instead of going straight to Ronan, though every nerve in his body was pulling him in that direction, he approached the professor and apologized for the small lapse. His professor looked at him funny and said that she didn’t know what he was talking about and that he gave a stellar presentation. 

That eased Adam’s nerves a little, but he was still afraid that he fucked it up, somehow. He felt it had to be perfect, and old habits died hard, if they ever die at all.

Adam took more time than usual putting away his things, taking care not to look at Ronan while he did. His heart was pounding in his chest. It had been over a month since his visit to the Barns in early October, and he wasn’t supposed to see Ronan until ten more days when he went back for Thanksgiving break. Ronan was full of surprises, apparently, but then again, Adam had already known that. 

Adam was so caught up in packing up, his head practically buried in his backpack, that he didn’t notice Ronan coming towards him. It was only when an annoyed voice said, “Take longer, Parrish, I fucking dare you,” that Adam jumped, banging his head on the tiny pull out table attached to his seat above him. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Adam said, pulling out from underneath the offending piece of wood and grabbing his scalp with both hands, futilely trying to diminish the amount of pain he was in. He squeezed his eyes shut, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. He wondered if it was an overreaction to consider the possibility of a concussion.

“Shit,” Ronan said, and when Adam opened his eyes, Ronan’s face was right in front of him, close enough that he could feel his breath on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched in obvious concern, and his hands came up to cup Adam’s face. “ _Shit_ , fuck, sorry, I thought I came up on your right—“ He turned around, wildly, moving his face side to side, as if trying to figure out if left and right were still the same as they were a minute ago.

Adam, somehow, laughed. “You did, I’m just really clumsy, apparently.”

Ronan tried to move Adam’s hands from his head. “Let me see.” 

Adam rolled his eyes, which in turn made him wince. “I’m fine, Lynch.” 

“Parrish—“ 

“I’m _fine_ ,” Adam repeated, tersely. “Let’s just—let’s get out of here. People are staring.” It was a large class, and most of the people were gone already by the time Adam had finished his slow packing up, but there were still some students lingering, and they seemed to have made a small scene. 

Without waiting for Ronan’s response, Adam quickly stood up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, took Ronan’s hand in his, and starting dragging them through the classroom, the building, outdoors into the campus air. Ronan was silent throughout their traipse as he followed slightly behind Adam, and Adam didn’t look at Ronan once, but the tight grip of their slightly sweaty hands was nearly enough to make Adam’s heart burst out of his chest.

Luckily, that class was in a building right next to his dorm building, so it didn’t take long for them to make it to his room. Adam had to let go of Ronan’s hand to hunt for his key, which was buried somewhere inside his backpack. Ronan scoffed as Adam searched and searched, and Adam returned his scoff with a glare. When he finally found it, it took three tries to open the door, and then they were finally inside. Ronan walked ahead of him and surveyed the tiny dorm room, of which Adam’s side was neat and bare, as expected. Adam stayed by the door, something unidentifiable building up inside him.

“What are you doing here?” Adam blurted out, the words coming out more accusatory than intended.

Ronan turned back to him, stance lazy and unconcerned. At least, on the surface. “The fuck do you think I’m doing here? Pursuing higher education, of course.”

“How did you even know where I was?” 

Ronan shrugged. “Asked around.” Which made no sense, but Adam didn’t care enough to push.

“Is something wrong?” Adam was suddenly coming up with worst case scenarios, even though logically he knew that Ronan would not be this relaxed if something bad had truly happened. 

“No,” Ronan said, frowning, irritation clear in his voice. “Why the fuck would you think that?”

“Because you’re _here_ ,” Adam replied, exasperated, “And we literally talked last night and you didn’t mention anything—“ 

“It’s called a _surprise_ , dickwad.“ And there it was, the anger, the defensiveness. It made Adam defensive in turn.

“Well your _surprise_ might have just cost me my midterm grade,” Adam snapped. “You just had to barge in in the middle?”

The anger and defensiveness on Ronan’s face gave way to what they were really hiding all along: hurt. “Fuck you, Parrish, I’ll fuck off back to Henrietta if it’s such an inconvenience.”

 _“No_ ,” Adam said, suddenly, desperately, and it hit Adam with unexpected clarity what the itchy feeling inside him was, why he had a hard time looking the other boy in the eye: he’d _missed_ Ronan. Missed him so much that it hurt and that pain turned into what it often did – anger, annoyance, fear. 

He’d known this already, of course. It was obvious with every second of every day that he spent thinking about him. Obvious, especially, after last night, when Adam finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. 

But somehow Ronan standing in front of him made all logic and coherent thinking leave the premises. There was only Adam and his impossible emotions fucking everything up. 

He didn’t remember moving his feet, but suddenly he was standing right in front of the other boy, scanning his surprised and wary face. Only a second later his nose was tucked in the hollow of Ronan’s throat, his hands wrapped around his neck, fingers stroking his shaved head. 

“Don’t—um. God. _Stay_ ,” Adam said, almost pleading.

Hesitantly, Ronan’s hands came to rest on Adam’s lower back, and he kissed the top of Adam’s head. Adam closed his eyes.

“Relax, Parrish,” Ronan replied, gruff. “I was being just dramatic.” 

Adam snorted and pulled back. He scratched his neck, avoiding Ronan’s eyes again. Ronan cupped his jaw and pushed it up so he had no choice but to look at Ronan. 

Adam swallowed. “Sorry. I’m being—“ 

“Did I really fuck up your midterm?” Ronan looked genuinely upset. “You seemed great to me.” 

Adam, ridiculously, smiled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Well, you probably didn’t _fuck it up_ , exactly, but… you did make me stumble, asshole. How the hell was I supposed to concentrate on a fucking presentation when you just show up out of the blue like that? And looking like—like _that_.”

The last part was said in helpless frustration, Adam feeling the agony all over again of knowing that Ronan was in the back of the classroom and he couldn’t just walk over to him and kiss him right that second. Especially when he was wearing his leather jacket and ripped t-shirt and that addicting smile. Although it probably would’ve been just as torturous no matter how Ronan looked, because it was Ronan.

Ronan smirked. “Looking like what?”

Adam scoffed, swatting lightly at Ronan’s chest. “Shut up.” 

“Hey,” Ronan said, his voice suddenly going ten shades softer. 

Adam frowned, alarmed at the abrupt change. “What?”

Ronan cupped Adam’s cheeks, thumbs brushing under his eyes. “Come here,” Ronan murmured, and then pulled him into a kiss. 

And oh. Of course. How had Adam forgotten _that_? 

Ronan kissed him, deep and lingering. Adam was left more wrecked than he would ever admit when he pulled back.

Ronan’s thumb traveled to the shell of his ear, tracing it absentmindedly. His expression was a touch guarded, and his next words soon revealed why. “Won’t try the surprise thing, next time, then.” 

Adam shook his head. “No. No. Do the surprise thing. Do it all the time.” 

Ronan huffed. “You didn’t seem that big a fan of it a few minutes ago, Parrish.” 

“I was just—taken aback.”

“Well, you see, Parrish, the very definition of a surprise—“ Ronan started in a mocking tone. 

Adam let out a laugh and shoved Ronan’s shoulder. “Shut _up_ , god. I just meant—it was—“ Adam faltered, unable to explain the mess of emotions inside him, as it so often happened with Ronan. “I was being stupid, okay? It was a good surprise. It was a great fucking surprise.” 

Ronan’s lips widened into the loose, unshielded smile that Adam loved so much, making Adam feel nearly dizzy. “Good.”

“Just, next time don’t show up while I’m in the middle of a presentation. I’ll end up leaving halfway through it.” 

Ronan gave Adam a look. “No, you won’t.”

Adam winced. _Known_. “Okay, I won’t. But I’ll _want_ to, and it’ll just to be torture to see you standing there while I have to go on and on about biology, so—“ 

Ronan interrupted him with a kiss to shut him up. “Fine, fine,” Ronan muttered against his lips. “I won’t get in the middle of your Ivy League projects, if I’m really so irresistible to you that it’ll make you stutter like a dumbass.” 

He sounded incredibly smug. Adam was annoyingly turned on by it.

Adam pulled back, suddenly worried again. “Was the stuttering really that noticeable? Because—“

“Christ, Parrish,” Ronan groaned, moving his lips down Adam’s neck instead. “You were fine. You were great. Sounded really smart and shit, as usual. Looked fucking hot, too.”

Adam rolled his eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Ronan said, even though he couldn’t see Adam’s face. “You did. The professor should give you extra points for that.” 

“I don’t think my middle aged professor was paying attention to my looks, Lynch,” Adam replied wryly.

“Whatever. I’m sure your presentation got a 110 percent, loser. Relax.”

Adam took a deep breath, which turned into a gasp when Ronan bit at his throat. “Right. Right. Okay. Forget about it.” Adam lifted Ronan’s head and kissed him hungrily. There were more important things to focus on right then than his biology midterm. Ronan’s lips, for example, and Ronan’s scent, and just _Ronan_. “Come on,” Adam managed, aching so much he could barely stand.

Ronan, being the infuriating bastard he was, pulled away. “Adam, wait.” 

“ _What?_ ” Adam nearly whined. 

“Your forehead. Does it still hurt?” 

“What—Oh. No. Barely. It’s fine.” 

“Let me see,” Ronan insisted, reaching for his temple. 

“Jesus, Lynch, I said I’m fine. Don’t baby me.” 

Ronan scowled. “You have a fucking welt on your forehead, Parrish.” 

Adam rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t.” 

Stubborn, Ronan inspected Adam’s face anyways, touching at the spot where he’d hit his head. It hurt a tiny bit, Adam could admit, as gentle as Ronan was with his fingers, but it really wasn’t as bad as it had seemed initially. Ronan’s concern was unnecessary. 

Ronan let out a grunt and let go of his face, seeming satisfied. 

“Happy now? Can we get back to what we were doing?” 

“At least put a bandaid or some ice on it or something.”

“ _Ronan_ ,” Adam pleaded, impatient.

“ _Fine_ , Jesus,” Ronan muttered. 

Adam pulled him towards the bed, and as always, Ronan followed without hesitation.

 

*

 

Afterwards, they sprawled on Adam’s shitty dorm mattress – still better than the one at St. Agnes – both of them panting and satisfied after over a month of not being able to touch each other. 

“God,” Adam said, his voice still hoarse.

“Yeah,” Ronan agreed. “That was…” 

“The best sex we’ve ever had?” Adam suggested.

Ronan raised an eyebrow, amused.

Adam shrugged. “You know what they say. Absence makes—“ 

“The sex grow better?” 

Adam smacked Ronan’s arm, and the other boy laughed. “Makes the heart grow fonder, you _ass_.” 

“So did it, then?” Ronan asked, grinning. “Grow fonder?”

Adam moved closer to Ronan, grabbed his hand, playing with his fingers.

“I don’t know,” Adam said. “My heart was already plenty fond. _Annoyingly_ fond.” 

Ronan’s smirk widened, and Adam leaned to kiss it off his face.

After pulling away, Adam stared at Ronan, simply taking in his features, features that he’d memorized. The space between his eyebrows that wrinkled when he frowned. His long eyelashes. His sharp jaw.

Adam’s face must have been doing something embarrassing, because Ronan abruptly looked concerned.

“Adam? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just…” Adam swallowed. “I missed you, you know.”

He heard Ronan suck in a breath. He brought Adam’s fingers to his mouth.

“Yeah,” Ronan said, voice rough. 

“I—God,” Adam said, laughing a little. “I missed you so much I felt like I was going crazy with it,” he admitted. The words were difficult to get out. Made Adam feel exposed. He couldn’t quite look at Ronan.

Ronan cupped Adam’s cheek and pressed their foreheads together. Adam felt his shaky breath on his face. “Yeah. Me too.” 

“It got especially bad the past few days. I don’t know why. Put me in a really bad mood, too. My roommate probably hates me now because I wouldn’t stop snapping at him.”

Ronan grinned. “Damn, now I almost regret showing up. Your dumbass roommate could use a little classic Adam Parrish bitchiness.”

“Don’t be mean. He’s not that bad.”

Ronan gave him a look. 

“Okay, so maybe he gives me slight Tad Carruthers vibes, but aside from that, he’s fine, really. Either way. Somehow you showed up just when I needed you.”

“Yeah, well. You did sound pretty down on the phone yesterday.” 

Adam froze. “No I didn’t.” He’d had a bit of a breakdown right before they had talked, the crying kind, the stress and homesickness getting to him for approximately ten embarrassing minutes, but Adam had made sure to mask that when he talked to Ronan.

Ronan gave him another look.

So he didn’t fool Ronan at all, then. He shouldn’t have been surprised. When had he ever been able to fool Ronan Lynch?

“I assumed it was all the midterms stress.”

“That was part of it, yeah.” 

Ronan brushed a strand of hair from Adam’s forehead. “Glad I could help, then.”

“You did help,” Adam assured him. “I feel much better.” 

“You sure that’s not just the sex?” 

Adam huffed. “Believe it or not, I don’t _just_ want you for your body, Lynch.” 

“No? I’m shocked.”

“Trust me, I am too.”

Ronan snorted.

Adam added, all casual, “Never thought I’d fall in love with your personality, and yet, somehow…” 

Ronan’s answering smile was blinding. Adam’s cheeks felt hot. “Don’t look so smug, shitbag. That doesn’t mean your personality isn’t still terrible.” 

“You’re into that, apparently,” Ronan shot back. 

Adam sighed, having no counterargument, for once. “Unfortunately.” 

“Not so unfortunate for me,” Ronan said, rolling on top of Adam and kissing down his chest.

When Ronan pulled down his boxers, well, nothing in that moment seemed unfortunate for Adam, either.

 

*

 

Many minutes later, Adam was sprawled on Ronan’s chest. “We have to get up,” Adam mumbled. 

“No we don’t.” 

“Yeah, we do. I have to show you around and everything.” Ronan had only been here once before, when he was helping Adam move in, and he hadn’t met any of Adam’s new friends or seen much of the campus. There was so much Adam wanted to show him about his new life. Wanted him to be a part of. 

“For that, we’d have to put on our clothes.”

Adam made a distasteful sound. “Well, in that case.”

Ronan laughed.

“My roommate will be back soon,” Adam said, resentful. “We really need to get up.” 

“No we don’t,” Ronan said again. “That’s your roommate’s problem.”

Adam scoffed. “So you’re okay with him walking in on us like this?”

Ronan just stared at him. 

Adam sighed. “Well, _you_ don’t have to live with the guy.”

“Hey, man, I lived with Gansey and he walked in on us plenty of times. I was fine with it.”

“You’re impossible.” 

Ronan grinned, all teeth. “You love me.”

“We’ve already discussed how unfortunate that is.” 

“Just wait ten more minutes Parrish. Then we can go.” 

Adam grudgingly complied. 

After a few minutes of silence, Ronan said, sounding exasperated, “You’re still thinking about that Biology shit, aren’t you?” 

Adam flushed. “No—I—shut up.”

Ronan let out a laugh, and Adam swatted at his chest. 

“How about next time I interrupt your presentation for your Classics class,” Ronan said, eyes gleaming and smug. “I’ll recite the entire _Aeneid_ in Latin and show you up in front of everyone.” 

“As if you could,” Adam replied, annoyed. Though Adam knew very well that Ronan could recite the Aeneid in his sleep. It was infuriating, particularly because Adam found it incredibly attractive and was always badly impressed.

“Or maybe I’ll recite a Latin love poem, instead,” Ronan said casually. “Make the professor swoon so much at our romance of the ages that he’ll automatically give you an A.” 

“Fuck off,” Adam said, laughing despite himself. “And trust me, nothing can make Professor Gilbert _swoon_.”

“If you say so. But the more important thing is that _you’ll_ be swooning.”

“Hmm, no, _mendax_.” 

Ronan’s expression suddenly changed, softening to something more sincere, and he said, in a low voice, “ _Decorde totaliter, et ex mente tota, sum presentialiter, absens in remota_.”

_With all my heart and all my soul, I am with you, even though I am far away._

Adam’s breath caught. He opened his mouth, closed it again, no words coming out.

They started at each other for an indeterminable amount of time until Ronan’s lips slowly turned up into his signature smirk. “See? Made you swoon.” 

Adam swallowed, still reeling. “You _asshole_.”

Ronan grinned and kissed him, soft and lingering, his hand coming up to cup Adam’s cheek. 

“I’m really glad you came,” Adam whispered.

Ronan kissed the corner of his mouth. “Me too. Fuck, I missed you.” 

Not really wanting to know the answer, Adam asked, “When do you have to leave?” 

Ronan winced. “Tomorrow morning. I have shit to do for the farm and the urchin is alone.” 

Adam visibly deflated.

“Hey,” Ronan said, voice gentle. “Only ten more days.” 

Adam exhaled. “Yeah. Yeah.” 

Ronan smirked. “Plus, I think the _best sex we’ve ever had_ should be enough to tide you over for that long.” 

Adam turned red. God, he always said some of the most embarrassing shit in the post sex haze. 

Trying to recover, Adam replied, “It’ll be enough to tide me over for the next month, actually. Just means we won’t have sex when I come home for Thanksgiving.” 

Ronan wasn’t fazed. “Who the fuck are you trying to fool, Parrish? Your thirsty ass won’t last more than a day. I bet you’ll call me to have phone sex tomorrow afternoon just as I’m pulling into the fucking driveway. Wouldn’t be the first time.” 

Adam flushed deeper, remembering how he’d called Ronan for that the moment he’d reached school after his last visit. 

“Oh, shut up. Don’t tell me you’re not just as desperate.” 

Ronan simply shrugged. “Didn’t say I wasn’t.” 

Adam couldn’t help but smile. “Great, so it’s settled then. Call me when you reach the Barns tomorrow so I know you got home safely and so we can work out that desperation.”

“Perfect. Write it down in your lame ass planner, Parrish.”

“Don’t make fun of my—“ 

Ronan kissed him to shut him up, and well, Adam couldn’t exactly complain.

It was way longer than ten minutes before either of them got up from the shitty dorm mattress.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated. Find me on twitter @adamparrush and tumblr @lorelaiglmore.


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